VW Will Debut Cylinder Shut-Off System in 2012
By Danny King September 12, 2011Volkswagen will be the first automaker to feature a fuel-saving cylinder shut-off system on four-cylinder engines when it debuts the setup on its 1.4-liter turbocharged engines in Germany early next year, Volkswagen said last week. The so-called cylinder shut-off (CSO) may increase fuel efficiency by as much as 17 percent. The company hasn't put out word on when or if the feature will be included in U.S. engines. The CSO system will activate when the engine is spinning between 1,400 and 4,000 rpm and torque output is between 25 and 75 Newton-meters (18 to 55 foot-pounds), which Volkswagen says applies to a majority of the driving situations in the European driving cycle. When the system is activated, the intake and exhaust valves for cylinders 2 and 3 are shut down, VW said in the statement.
The German automaker is using a variety of technologies to get its engines to meet progressively more stringent fuel-economy and emissions standards in both the U.S. and Europe. VW is looking at broadening its clean-diesel models in the U.S beyond the two it currently offers. The company also plans to bring a battery-electric version of the Golf to market in 2014. Currently, the 1.4-liter TSI engine (left), which is available in European versions of models such as the Golf, uses about 6 liters per 100 kilometers traveled in combined city-highway driving (almost 40 miles per gallon), per slightly more lenient European fuel-economy standards. With the CSO system, fuel economy may be boosted by between 0.4 liters and 1 liter per 100 kilometers, which would translate to a jump of between 7 percent and 17 percent, or another 3 to 7 miles per gallon. VW says that, for instance, driving in third or fourth gear at about 30 miles per hour would result in maximum fuel savings.
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